


Between

by tatertotarmy



Category: Munto (Anime)
Genre: Close to the Heart: A KyoAni Zine, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatertotarmy/pseuds/tatertotarmy
Summary: It was funny that after soaring between worlds, being carried through a battle in the sky, and witnessing thousands of impossible things, a kind, outstretched hand was the most frightening thing of all.Written for Close to the Heart: A KyoAni Zine
Relationships: Hidaka Yumemi/Munto
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	Between

“Yumemi?”

She stood frozen, eyes locked on Munto’s outstretched hand, her own curled protectively against her chest. It was funny, all things considered. Yumemi lived through a lot in the past twenty-four hours. Not too long ago, she was sitting atop a ferris wheel that shook with every breath of wind, then carried through a battle in the sky, coming to a new realm far from her own beneath the clouds and brought to the world of a man she only knew in short meetings and memories. 

It was funny how after all of those things, a kind, outstretched hand was the most frightening of all.

Her hand unfurled and rose to meet his own, and she couldn’t help but hold her breath as her fingers inched closer, closer, and closer. All she could think of what could happen when her fingers finally met the palm. His hand unraveling, twisting everything around them into just another dream or memory. Or, in a cruel twist of fate, the same thing would happen as the last time they reached for each other: connecting for only a short moment, pouring all of their memories and feelings - everything - into one another, and then forcefully pulled apart. 

Yumemi tensed up, feeling the heat from his hand brush against her fingertips. No...this was different this time. It had to be.

She lowered her pinky, letting the smallest amount of her skin brush with his. Then she lowered another finger. And another. And as she slowly realized that nothing was going wrong, her hand slowly relaxed in his, and she let out a long, relieved exhale.

This was real. This wasn’t a dream. 

A warm, uncertain smile crossed Munto’s face, and he began to lead Yumemi further through the vast lands of the Heavens, his hand interwoven in her own. 

As they walked, Yumemi couldn’t help but feel a strange nostalgia, weaving through all of these landscapes and buildings she was only now seeing for the first time. Countless visions she had seen encased in memory: vast buildings of the Magic Kingdom interwoven with impossibly large plants, some of the staircases made of giant leaves and cascading tree roots; beautiful landscapes floating atop of background of cloud-lined skies, some trees drooping along the edge of the earth, leaves gently falling and floating down into the clouds; flowers blossoming plentifully along dirt pathways, much more beautiful and plentiful than the flowerbeds she knew back home.

As the two of them walked up a hill, she closed her eyes, a memory coming to her. 

_Rushing through fields of flowers, a bright smile on her face. Everything was in full bloom, even despite the shortage of Akuto. It was the most beautiful she’d ever seen the Magic Kingdom. She stopped at the edge of the island, peering down at a clear blue sky, only some thin clouds below. After everything she’d seen and heard, everything the adults spoke about doom and destruction...for once, she felt like there was some hope. Like this land could still be saved._

_“Munto!”_

_Oh, the adults must be calling for her. Wait...what was that name they used? That wasn’t her name. It couldn’t be…_

“Yumemi.”

A squeeze on her hand, and Yumemi was brought back to the present. She took in a deep breath, realizing that the two of them had long-since stopped. She looked up at Munto, letting out a sheepish breath. So...that wasn’t her memory. 

“Sorry,” Yumemi spoke, looking back out towards the flowers along their path, “It’s strange...I feel so nostalgic about everything I’ve seen...but this is the first time I’ve been here. It feels like a dream.”

“I see,” Munto spoke, looking down at her, “How so?”

“Well…” Yumemi looked around them, her eyes landing on a tree near the edge of the earth, its branches swaying to and fro with the breeze, “I’ve never seen any of this before, and yet everything I feel tells me I have. I feel like I’ve walked down this path before...and I feel like I’ve looked out from the edge countless times. And I feel like I’ve soared right through the clouds, too.”

She paused for a long moment before looking up at Munto, “But it wasn’t me. It was you...but I feel like it was me. So seeing this myself is a very...strange feeling.”

Munto took in a long inhale, and then exhaled. He was quiet for a moment, and Yumemi wondered whether she said too much or even too little. It was a strange thing to vocalize, after all. Though it was already strange having another lifetime of thoughts intertwined with her own. 

“I wonder if I would feel the same way if I came to your world,” he finally spoke, “I’ve felt similar things...where I remember things I’ve never experienced before, or feel nostalgic for this impossible place I’ve only seen in dreams.”

“I see…” Yumemi replied, “I’m glad that I’m not the only one. Maybe...it would be the same, if you went down there. Would you...like to come to my world, if you had the chance?”

“If the chance presented itself, then I think it would be a valuable experience,” Munto’s hand slipped from her own, and he began to walk closer to the edge of earth, his eyes traveling down to the clouds, “I am curious to see it all with my own eyes...and see more that I - or, rather, you - have seen in my dreams. I believe it would be very...interesting.”

“Really?” Yumemi felt a little surprised. “Is it really that interesting to you?”

“How could it not be? The only place below the clouds that I know is...barren,” Munto turned to look back at her, “Plus, it is where...erm…”

“What?”

“It is...where you are from.” Munto looked away towards the sky below, running a hand through his red hair just as his ears began to match the shade. “Even if you were to come from a barren wasteland as the world below...I’m sure I would hold a similar interest.”

Yumemi blushed, looking down and nervously fiddling with the ends of her dress. Was that truly how he felt? 

“But, it would also be for learning about your people in general, of course,” Munto quickly tacked onto the end, letting out a small huff. Yumemi paused, a small smile spreading on her lips, as well as a small breathy giggle. She walked over to where he stood on the edge of the land, looking down at the sky below, seeing the clouds go by above a looming shadow below, the image of the world. And she couldn’t be reminded of the view from her own little town, her anxious eyes peeking out from an umbrella to see a floating land above, barely concealed by drifting clouds.

And again, she felt the familiarity, only from a different perspective entirely.

“I’m sure you wouldn’t quite find my world as...exciting as your own,” Yumemi kept her eyes on the world below, her thoughts drifting back home, “The things I’ve experienced yesterday were far more exciting than I’d ever seen in a lifetime. Most of the exciting things I’ve had all involved you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...you’ve seen it for yourself in my memories,” Yumemi spoke, shifting a little in her stance, “I walk to school with my friends...I do homework at night...I go out to do ordinary things. Up here...everything is at stake. That there are wars and battles and magic that I’d only read about in books before. It feels as though I’ve walked into a completely new world.”

“I believe that’s completely correct.” Munto chuckled.

“R-Right…” Yumemi flushed a bit red in embarrassment, shaking her head, “This is a new world to me. But...I mean it not just literally, you know?”

Munto was quiet for a while, looking down at a tree root that stuck out from the side of the edge, curving downward in a spiral. He put a gentle hand on Yumemi’s shoulder to draw her attention, and pointed his other hand out towards it.

“I used to sit there a lot when I was a child,” Munto spoke, his hand sliding off of her shoulder, “There was a lot of pressure placed upon my shoulders back then, due to the Akuto shortage. I’m...sure you know the details from my memories.”

Yumemi nodded, her eyes closing for a moment.

_Her legs dangled below towards the earth below, her shoulder rested up against the ground. The adults had been whispering about her again, all within earshot. About how her creation was a severe waste of Akuto. How her people would need to make up for the energy spent to give her life. How it would be better if her parents were still around to provide guidance._

_She sighed, running a hand through red hair that stuck up no matter the weather. Part of her wondered...what would happen if she descended down to the surface. Was it really a wasteland, like she was told?_

_Would she find someone there?_

“I spent quite a lot of days there, because everything just mounted up on top of me.”

Yumemi blinked, looking back up at Munto, “So you were hiding out here?”

“Yes…” Munto looked down at Yumemi, “I suppose it’s why I find your world so interesting. Here, all I know is that pressure and war. And down there...you are able to enjoy mundane activities and routine...which is something we can scarcely afford here. All that normalcy you experience is...completely foreign to me. And whenever I had a glimpse of it, I felt just the same as you, strangely nostalgic in a world where the ground is firmly beneath your feet and the sky is always above and not below.”

Yumemi was quiet for a long moment, thinking over his words. All her life, since she knew she was the only one who could see the strange land above the clouds, all she wanted was normalcy. To see the same sky and to enjoy the same scenery as her friends and everyone around her. It was to the point where she carried an umbrella wherever she walked on sunny days...and it was the reason why during their first encounters, she refused to take Munto’s hand. To her...Munto was always an invader to her attempted normalcy, trying to drag her into a world she never wanted to ascend into.

Strange how she stood in this very world now to do the very thing she ran from before...and she was beside someone who also craved that normalcy she so desperately wanted.

“Then…” Yumemi smiled softly, “When this is over...I’ll give you a tour and show you everything I know.”

Munto smiled, “I would appreciate that. For now...shall we go? I am sure Ryueri is expecting us soon.”

And then, he offered her his hand. Yumemi looked at it for a moment, but then placed her hand in his with no hesitation. 

After all, what was there to fear?


End file.
